Loves Company
by Lithium Delusions
Summary: The sequel to Misery! As JJ and Drake begin to build a relationship, there is more trouble as a killer stalks the D.A. There will be adult content, so be forewarned.
1. Chapter 1

**Loves Company…**

Chapter One: Tangled Web

_Disclaimers: We lay no claim to the characters of Fake. Drake and JJ, among others, are the property of the genius Sanami Matoh-sama. We only have the rights to torture them in our own fevered imaginations._

_Warnings: Lemony goodness toward the middle and end of this. For the unwary, that means two men engaged in sexual activity. If this does not float your boat, we respectfully ask that you turn back right now. If you do not, we will not be held responsible for whatever mental trauma you incur from this point on… (Yay! SMUT!) Kita, I'm warning you.  
_

_Oh, also there's blood and ickiness, so be warned. Not for the weak of stomach._

_A/N - As promised, the sequel to 'Misery.' The time line here is more or less right after the last chapter of Misery - 'Likely.' Sorry if we left you feeling like things were unfinished - they were..._

_ We had plotted the story of Drake and JJ coming to terms with their growing feelings in two arcs. We felt that the Misery story was complete right where it needed to be - leaving room to start the beginning… which is here. Please enjoy. Thanks be to all those who reviewed or favorited "Misery." Kita and I will try to get back to those of you who left signed reviews when our computer time is not so severely curtailed. (huh?) That means, "cut short," idiot. (That's mean, Subu-chan!)_

_--sighs-- Anyway, please enjoy._

* * *

To say Drake was only perturbed would be akin to saying a raging forest fire was only a little hot. Inside he was mentally tied up tighter than the proverbial Gordian knot. To anyone who knew him, it was clear he was out to lunch. He'd been sitting at his desk for the past twenty minutes, staring blankly at the yellowing calendar on the wall. Chances were, if anyone were to ask him, he wouldn't be able to tell them what month - much less what day it was.

Because, try as he might, his traitorous mind kept drifting back to a slight body pressing against him and firm lips against his own, not demanding - but asking that he open to them. Other memories crowded in too, like just how right that slender frame fit against him, or how a smile could light up those bluer-than-blue eyes and make the whole room seem brighter. How a single goofy joke could make him laugh - no matter how crappy a day it had been.

"Drake?"

Startled out of his uncomfortable musings, Drake looked up as Ryo rapped gently on the frame of the open door.

"Yeah?"

"Got a minute?" Ryo lifted a file folder with a sheepish grin.

Brought firmly back to reality, Drake blinked and nodded. "Sure. That the file on the Branson case?"

Ryo stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "You got it. Jim sent over some priors with it that he thinks could be matches for your boy's M.O."

"Crap. How many?"

"Six." The chestnut-haired detective slumped into a chair, dropping the file in front of Drake with a weary sigh. "The oldest over a year ago and the most recent less than an month ago."

"Shit." Drake thumbed through the folder, grimacing at the group of crime scene photos. "Looks the same. So Branson was just the latest in this sick fuck's game?"

"Looks like. Where's JJ? He should be in on this too." Ryo didn't miss the slight flinch in Drake's gray eyes at the mention of his partner's name.

"He's still with the team on the hostage situation. Things are still hot over there. They may need another sniper, so don't be surprised if you get called to help him out."

Ryo nodded, but reached over and closed the file in front of Drake. "You know the Branson file was just a convenient excuse, right?"

A brief flash of panic lit Drake's face. "An e-excuse for what?"

"We need to talk." Ryo told him calmly. "Tell me, what's been going on between you and JJ?"

This time there was no missing the flinch. Drake jerked so hard that his hand knocked over the mug full of pens on his desk. The effort of gathering up the pens gave him enough time to get his expression under control, Ryo noted, even though there was an undeniable shading of pink to his cheeks.

"Would you believe me if I said I have no idea what you're talking about?"

Ryo just gave him a level stare, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest.

Drake sighed. "No. I didn't think so."

"So…?"

Drake shoved a hand through his already unruly hair. "God, Ryo, I don't even know where to start! Ever since Chief saddled me with him, JJ's been panting after his _**"Dee-sempai!"**_ He about drove me crazy with it."

Ryo sighed and rolled his eyes, but allowed a small smile to creep across his face. "Tell me something I don't know. You think you were the only one who got fed up with it? I lost count of the number of times I had to stop Dee from putting him through the wall for his interruptions." He blushed a bit himself. "But I don't think Dee is what you need to talk about right now."

Drake looked down. For a moment there was silence and then Drake spoke in a tight, controlled voice. "Dee was right, you know… when he called me a jealous bitch, that one time."

Ryo nodded. He remembered that, and the lovely shades of blue and green that had colored his lover's jaw-line for a week afterward. Drake had a left hook to be proud of.

"And I still feel that way sometimes." Drake admitted listlessly. "I see them talking and I just get so pissed. And it's only been worse… since JJ kissed me."

Ryo blinked in surprise. "H-he kissed you?"

Drake nodded, his eyes fixed on the tiny sliver of daylight that crept down the wall opposite the room's one tiny window. "On the roof," He answered matter-of-factly. "The day I got dumped by Jillena. We were talking and he looked all depressed. And then he kissed me…"

Ryo was less surprised that JJ had moved that fast than by the fact that Drake was taking things this calmly. When Dee had first kissed him, you could have knocked Ryo over with a feather. "And…"

"I was shocked, y'know? But he brushed it off like a joke that night at dinner and we - we haven't actually spoken since then…"

Ryo reckoned it up in his head. "How have you two managed to avoid each other for a week and a half?"

Drake's chuckle was dry and humorless. "JJ took two days off when his aunt got sick, cause she doesn't have anyone else to look after her. I had Saturday off and we were both off on Sunday. I worked the six to three shift the next day and he pulled graves to cover for Leon. It's been like this since then. This is the first day we've actually been on the same shift and before I even get here, he calls and tells me that he's headed out for a hostage situation where they might need a sniper."

Dee had been the one to notice the strained air between the two and how they were never on the same shift. He had designated his lover as the one to speak to Drake, saying it was only fair, seeing as he'd had to talk to JJ. Ryo didn't like it, but agreed with the choice. If Drake were questioning his own sexuality, the best person to talk to him would definitely be Ryo.

"Drake, forgive me for prying, but how do you feel about it?" Ryo asked, hoping Drake wouldn't lose his temper.

Drake sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Fuck, Ryo… I don't know anymore! I'm not gay, but I see Dee say something that hurts JJ and I just want to pound him!" Only then did Drake seem to realize just who he was talking to and a dull flush burned on his cheeks. "Uh… I mean…"

Ryo smiled back. "I _do_ know what you mean. As much as I love him, Dee can be a royal ass at the best of times."

Drake heaved another sigh and shoved his hand through his already unruly hair. "Yeah. I just don't know…"

"Drake." Ryo's serious tone made him look up. "I'm not telling you to 'turn gay' or anything like that. Shit, Dee chased me for years before I gave into the fact that I loved him. What made me realize just how much I cared-"

Ryo's cell phone went off, making them both jump. Ryo fumbled it out and glanced at the number, face hardening, "Looks like you were right. That's the negotiation team." He opened the phone. "MacLean. Yeah, I guessed as much. Twenty minutes, tops. Right. JJ's got the roof, right? So where do you want me? Got it." Ryo snapped the phone closed and headed for the door.

He hesitated with one hand on the knob. "Drake, just think about this. What would you do, if one day, JJ never came back?"

Drake stared at the closing door numbly. _Never came back?_ Ryo's words echoed eerily in the sudden quiet.

What if something happened to JJ? The thought was excruciating. Drake shivered convulsively. To never see JJ again… To never hear that light, high laughter again or to ruffle that oddly-colored hair - that thought sent a stabbing pain through him. God, was Ryo right? Drake swallowed harshly, the motion reminding him of nearly being strangled to death. He still couldn't bring himself to wear anything with a high collar (and turtlenecks were out of the question!) because anything around his throat made him feel short of breath and panicky. And that in turn reminded him of the hallucination his oxygen-starved brain had created.

JJ smiling at him seductively, the full force of his sexuality making Drake's groin tighten. The feel of those lips against his, hot and tasting faintly of salt, brought to mind the kiss on the roof. It had felt the same as the dream; all melting warmth and the dizzying realization that this was JJ that made him feel this way. The brief press of JJ's weight against his chest had made his body respond in ways he didn't want to think about. But think about it, he did, because there was no denying it - he was sexually attracted to his slight partner.

No, not just sexually attracted. As much as it hurt to admit it, sexual attraction was not even the half of it. JJ… In a weird and not quite right way, JJ meant more to him than any of his previous girlfriends, even Linda, the one he had briefly considered proposing marriage to. JJ's opinions counted for more and his well-being was by far more important than any date. Drake couldn't count the number of times he had skipped out on a date to go ease JJ's most recent rejection. What did it all mean?

Drake was startled out of his disturbing contemplations by the door slamming open. "Haul it, Parker! We've got another body, and it looks like it was your boy who did it." Marty said. "Ted's got the scene covered, but things are bound to get messy in a hurry!"

Drake snatched up his coat and followed. "Fill me in."

Marty glanced back over his shoulder. "In the car, man. No way you want this all over the station."

Drake stretched his legs to keep up with Marty's half-running pace. When they were in the car, Marty started it without a word and pulled out of the parking garage with a screech that left black marks on the pavement. "It's bad, Drake. This time, he wanted to make sure we got the message."

"Fuck. What the hell happened?"

"You'll see when we get there. Ted's secured the crime scene, but it's bound to get out."

Drake had a sinking feeling in his gut that only intensified as Marty pulled up outside a high-class apartment building. He knew this place. Less than four months ago, he and Ted had been here, getting the D.A. to sign off on a warrant for the arrest of the man who had shot Ryo. "Don't tell me…"

Marty was already halfway out the door. "Okay. I won't tell you."

They took the elevator up to the top floor. Drake knew he wouldn't like what they found here. Ted was waiting for them when the doors opened, and his normally tanned face was rather pale. "Took you bastards long enough. Word's gonna get out soon, cause I had to stop Mrs. Richmond from getting off the elevator. You can bet she's gone straight to see her hubby."

The smell hit him first, iron and metallic. The stench of spilled blood, flavored with the acrid reek of bile and ruptured bowels. Ted gulped and turned a shade paler. "I've been up here too long. The smell's really getting to me."

They turned the corner and Drake gulped back nausea. Ted wasn't so lucky and bolted for the potted fern they had passed, retching into the ceramic vessel. Marty stayed, though he managed to turn whiter than Ted… quite an accomplishment for a someone whose natural skin-tone was nut brown.

She had been fifteen, tops. Pretty in a girl-next-door kind of way, or she had been before their killer had gotten hold of her. She was dressed in the remains of a catholic school uniform, once navy and white, but now stained black and scarlet. Her hands were chained together above her head with a heavy chain that was looped over the decorative light fixture beside the door, holding her on her knees. Her killer was definitely the same as the Branson girl. The series of almost surgical cuts that had bled her was similar, starting high on her wrists and working down to the small breasts laid bare by the tattered shreds of her uniform. Her belly had been laid open, ropy intestines pooling around her legs. If the blood loss hadn't killed her, the disemboweling finished the job.

Drake covered his mouth and nose with one hand, breathing shallowly through his mouth. The iron tang of blood still felt like it coated his tongue as he examined the victim with what he hoped was clinical detachment. Some part of him was gibbering in nauseated horror, but he firmly shut the door on that part of his mind. "It's the same. The cuts are the same."

Ted glared at him from where he was still hunched over the large planter. "How the fuck can you tell with all that blood?"

Drake stepped back from the body and glanced at Ted. "Our killer's a nutjob. The symbols cut into her skin are all runes."

"Runes?" Marty managed, looking enviously toward the planter Ted had claimed for himself. He was looking rather green.

Drake sighed, rolling one shoulder in a shrug. "I don't know the first thing about it, honestly. You'd have to ask JJ, he's the one who identified the marks on the Branson girl."

Ted straightened up, still pale but looking steadier. "Runes or not, this was a clear message for Richmond."

Drake nodded, fighting the roiling of his own stomach. " 'Look what I can do. I know where you live and can get in without effort.' "

Marty shook his head. "It's worse than that. And way more personal. That uniform is from the school where his oldest daughter goes."

Drake and Ted both raised their heads. "It is?"

"How do you know that?"

Marty turned another shade paler. "My girl is in the same class as Tiffany Richmond. They're friends."

Drake sighed. That added a whole new layer to things. "There's no putting it off any longer. Ted, you've been here longest. Go down to the car and call in forensics. Make sure they borrow Jim Campbell from the Bronx station for this one. This is going to get messy and we're going to need all the cooperation we can get. Marty, you make sure anyone who comes through the door to this building has proper ID. If any of the Richmond's show up, take them into protective custody. And that goes for Bryant too. D.A. or not, he should know that this is nothing to scoff at." Drake glanced back toward the body. "I'll hold the fort here until Forensics and the coroner's boys get here. Go."

He watched the elevator close and leaned against the wall next to it, desperately trying to breathe only through his mouth. He wasn't going anywhere near the body again. The body…it might seem cold to refer to it that way, but if he thought about it as anything other than a victim, he'd lose his carefully maintained front of detachment.

* * *

It was nearly five hours later that he dragged home to his cluttered apartment, weary and sick to the bone. The facade slipped and he ran for the bathroom where he lost everything he'd eaten since this morning. When he was done dry-heaving, he rinsed his mouth out with Scope and curled into a small, wretched ball of human misery beside the porcelain bowl, shivering with reaction as his mind remembered all the things he'd made himself ignore throughout the long hours. Her backpack had been found in the dumpster behind the building, in it her school ID and her cell phone. The phone had some cutesy little anime charm hanging from it, like those shows JJ adored.

Oddly enough, it was that tiny little thing that was the most disturbing. It had moved her squarely from a statistic to a human being, with quirks and foibles all her own. One little plastic character had driven his mask of detachment away. His chest heaved, though his eyes remained dry.

He never even heard the door, which he'd forgotten to lock, open.


	2. Chapter 2: One Moment Of Heaven

Chapter Two-One Moment of Heaven

_Warnings- **THIS CHAPTER IS RATED NC-17. **Lemons ahoy. For the unwary, this means two males engaged in compromising situations. We give you credit for knowing whether you like this sort of thing or not. If you like it, by all means, proceed. If not, we respectfully indicate the back button as the place you should be headed. Thank you. Authors claim no responsibility for any mental or emotional damage that may occur.  
_

_Still blood and ickiness involved, not to mention bad language. Not recommended for the weak of stomach or easily offended._

_A/N-Thanks for sticking with the story, all those of you who reviewed. (--waves-- Hiya Poshu!! Sorries I haven't been on DA in like forever. Work's a killer and the computer that's for the fun stuff broke. --cries--) Thanks to Jarm and chibigirlflower. Poke the other readers for us, would you? (--giggles-- Who's the review monster, now, Subu-chan?) I'll thank you kindly to shut up while I'm typing, Kita! (--blows raspberry--) Anyway, we hope you all enjoy this most current chapter.  
_

* * *

"Drake-sempai?"

Drake blinked stinging eyes and raised his head from the cradle of his folded arms. "J-JJ?"

Suddenly, he was wrapped in warm arms and pulled tight to a slender chest that smelled of wind and rain with just the faintest hint of gunpowder. Some part of him wanted to wrap himself in that clean scent and burrow into JJ's embrace. To hide there forever…

"Ted told me about what happened. Are you okay?" JJ asked softly.

"Fuck no! What do you think?" Drake heard his voice tremble on the razor's edge of breaking and shut up. But JJ just held him closer and that was enough to bring the words in a flood. "S-she was just a kid, JJ! Her name was Angie and she was only fourteen. Still just a kid, with a silly anime character hanging from her cell phone." His voice shook with emotion and he hated it, looking into his partner's face. "Just a silly plastic charm…"

Drake could never say which of them made the first move, but suddenly his arms were around JJ too and their lips were pressed together. Drake told the part of him saying this was wrong to take a long walk off a short pier and pressed hungrily against JJ. JJ's mouth tasted sweet and hot, making his whole body ache with need.

He wasn't ready when JJ pushed him away, and a frustrated moan escaped his lips. "What the… JJ?"

JJ was breathing hard and his blue eyes were half-wild with a desperate desire that matched the one burning in Drake's gut. "This isn't a good idea."

"No, it's not." Drake agreed. "I don't care." He pulled JJ close for another burning kiss. He wanted this, needed this fire to sear away the awful things he had seen today. Just the press of JJ's lips to his own sent his whole body up in flames and right now, he needed the cleansing strength of that fire.

JJ broke the kiss again, panting. "Stop it, Drake-sempai. This isn't you." He pressed his face against Drake's chest when the other man would have found his lips again. "You're stressed and you don't know what you're doing. Stop - please!" He pled as Drake found his ear and sucked on the lobe. His pleas turned into incoherent moans that sent shivers through Drake straight to his groin.

"I know what I'm doing…" Drake growled against the soft skin of JJ's neck. "I just don't care."

JJ shivered against him and let out a small, helpless cry as Drake nipped his throat gently. "I-I… don't want this…"

Stung, Drake pulled back to where he could get his bearings, free of the intoxicating scent of JJ's skin. "You don't…? You're the one who _kissed me _on the damned roof, JJ! You kissed me _first!_"

JJ clung to him, shivering and panting. "God, Drake… I want you so much it hurts, but you're my best friend, and I-I don't want you to hate me in the morning. And you will…" He made a small, helpless sound that caused Drake to tremble. "You'll hate me and you'll hate yourself for letting things get so out of hand!"

Drake kissed him again, hard this time, to shut him up. It worked like a charm, JJ melting against him. He broke the kiss just long enough to pant. "I won't hate you, JJ. I could never hate you…" Some part of his mind knew he shouldn't be doing this, but didn't care, drowning in the sensations of the other man's body pressed against his.

JJ pulled away, leaving him bereft on the cold bathroom floor. But that didn't last for long, because JJ pulled him to his feet with a smile that still held just a hint of sadness and tugged him toward the bedroom. Drake followed eagerly; keen to listen to the demands of his body and block out the memory of the murdered teen.

JJ turned to face him just inside the door of his messy bedroom and stopped, his hand in Drake's shaking slightly. He pulled free and unbuttoned his shirt, sliding his arms free of the material. He stood there, bare-chested, fists bunched in the pale lilac cloth. "You understand this is what you're getting, Drake? I'm not a woman, and I never will be."

Drake crushed JJ to his chest and pressed his lips down on JJ's. They made it to the bed, fingers desperately vying to reach bare skin. JJ shoved Drake's hands away from his own fly and concentrated on getting Drake's pants off. Drake made a soft sound as JJ gripped him through the layers of cloth. His hips bucked helplessly beneath JJ's (oh, so very skilled) fingers. _"God…" _ The word was pulled from him, a mewling sound of desperate need.

JJ smiled up at him and pulled his pants and boxers down. Drake cried out as the warmth and heat of JJ's mouth engulfed him. "JJ-ahhh-JJ…"

Drake shivered beneath the onslaught of sensation, fingers clutching the sheets so hard his knuckles were white. God, he'd never known JJ's mouth was this skilled. His tongue danced around the crown of Drake's penis and his hands stroked the shaft and the tightening sac of his balls. The gentle suction was enough to arch him off the bed as JJ slipped his mouth further down the length of his erection.

Drake panted desperately as JJ skillfully brought him to the edge before backing off. The loss of sensation was enough to wrench another low moan from him. _Oh, god, JJ was driving him insane! _Gentle fingers caressed the flat planes of his stomach and the gentle slope to his groin. "Drake, are you sure…?"

Drake groaned and glared down at him. "Don't you dare stop now!"

JJ sighed, his warm breath feathering across Drake's bare skin, sending fresh shivers down his spine. JJ pressed a kiss to the tip of his penis before taking him in his mouth again. Drake cried out, back arching off the bed as teeth gently scraped the sensitive skin on the underside of his erection. He was… he was… Drake bucked hard beneath JJ's skillful ministrations as he came. JJ kept him in his mouth, swallowing the bitter cum as Drake collapsed, shaking and gasping.

As Drake fought to regain his breath, JJ licked the last taste of Drake's cum from his lips and sighed. As much as Drake needed that, he was sure to be ashamed come the morning light. JJ knew it, heart and soul. Drake had only needed someone right then, an outlet for the pent-up emotions. It didn't have to be JJ, just anyone who would let him vent. JJ knew it and yet, the last thing he wanted to do was let it be just this once. He kissed the tip of Drake's softening penis and looked on in mixed consternation and delight as Drake groaned and started to harden again.

Drake reached down and frantically pulled JJ up for a kiss, pressing their lips together with an urgency that JJ wanted to believe was something other than just the frantic need to reassure himself that life still went on. JJ knew better though. Right now, all Drake wanted was another warm body beside him, easing the fear. So, he'd give him that. He'd let Drake have the reassurance he needed.

He pressed his lips to Drake's throat and worked his way down to his bare chest. Drawing first one nipple and then the other in his mouth, he laved them with gentle attention. Drake shuddered beneath him, fingers clenching hard in JJ's hair. Ignoring his own growing need, JJ devoted all of his attention to Drake, wanting to wear him out until sleep could ease his troubled mind, at least for a little while. And if a repeat blowjob would do the trick, he was more than happy to provide.

For just a little while he could pretend and he did, reveling in the slide of Drake's skin against his, the taste of Drake in his mouth and the intimacy that he could pretend was more than just a release.

Drake came twice more to JJ's careful ministrations before dropping into exhausted slumber. JJ rose from the bed and kissed his forehead gently before going into the bathroom. His own rock-hard erection wasn't at all happy that Drake had gotten all the attention. Recalling the feel of Drake against him and the flavor of him on his tongue, JJ jerked off with efficient haste. It didn't help. He wasn't satisfied, but for now, it was all he was going to get. Hearing restless movement in the bedroom, he hurried back.

From the twisted look on Drake's face, he knew it was a nightmare that dragged a soft sound of distress from his partner's kiss-swollen lips. JJ slipped into the bed and cradled Drake against him, pressing Drake's head against his chest. The steady thud of his heartbeat seemed to do the trick and Drake relaxed against him, falling deeper into sleep. JJ held him for nearly an hour, until he was sure the dreams wouldn't return to trouble him.

Sighing, he turned off Drake's alarm clock and called the station. He got lucky when Leon answered the phone. Leon owed him for covering for him the other night and he knew it. "Hey, Leon, it's JJ. Put Drake Parker down for tomorrow, wouldya? He had one hell of a day and I don't think he's gotten more than an hour's sleep. Chief can bitch about it later, but Drake really needs a sick day."

Leon chuckled softly. "Yeah, I heard about it. Chief Smith is going to have plenty to say tomorrow. Marty's wife called in for him. Said he's been sick since he got off." JJ chuckled with him (even if he didn't feel like laughing) and bid him goodnight. He found Drake's notebook and scrawled a note on a blank page. 'Called in sick for you. Get some rest. I'll get the forensic reports from Jim and go over them. JJ.' He placed the note directly on top of the alarm clock where Drake would be sure to see it when he woke.

Then he rose and found his shirt. Pressing a gentle kiss to Drake's forehead, he slipped out. Maybe he was being a coward, but he didn't want to be there in the morning when Drake woke. He laughed softly at himself. Bitter recriminations weren't his style.

* * *

_**The next morning…**_

Ryo glanced up as JJ came into the office he shared with Dee. He was holding a large file and a single glance told Ryo that it was most likely the murder from yesterday. "JJ? Did you need something?"

JJ glanced up from his study of the file. "Ryo-sempai, how good are you with mythology or symbolism and stuff like that?"

"Depends. I'm pretty good with most Japanese mythology. Mom always used to tell me stories from Japan when I was a kid. I'm okay with Greek and Roman. I know a few Native American myths and a handful of others… why do you ask?"

JJ turned one of the chairs and sat down, resting his chin on the back of the chair. "Do you know anything about auguries?"

Ryo scratched his head, wondering what brought about this line of questioning. "Uhm, weren't those ways of telling the future? Predictions?"

JJ looked a little pale. "Yeah. Predicting the best outcome and things like that. You know anything about the specifics of auguries, though?"

He shook his head. "Not really. That wasn't my kind of thing. Why?"

JJ shuddered. "I did a paper on different fortune-telling methods back in college. Auguries were usually done by gutting an animal and reading the entrails. Sometimes, the animal would have magical or mystical symbols painted on its hide or occasionally, cut into it."

JJ flipped the file open to a pair of photos. The first was of the girl as she had been left at the crime scene, her viscera spread on the carpeted floor of the hallway, and the second of the girl's body on the slab in the medical examiners office. In the latter the blood had been carefully cleaned away from an area of her skin, showing very clearly the marks that had been cut into her flesh. It was a pattern of odd, angular marks in a clear arrangement running from her wrist to the top of her breast.

Ryo squinted at the photo. "What is it?"

JJ's voice was toneless. "Those are runes. Our killer was trying to send a message."

"Can you read them?" Ryo asked.

JJ held up a slim black book with a golden symbol on the cover. "With a little help. Picked this up from the library on the way over. Think I can borrow you for a little while to help me figure this out? I need someone to take notes while I translate and your handwriting is much better than Dee-sempai's."

Ryo chuckled at the face JJ made. Dee's handwriting, especially when he was in a hurry, made chicken scratch look neat. "Sure, but where's Drake?"

JJ looked a little sheepish. "Didn't you hear the chief bellowing this morning? Drake and Marty both called in. Ted's off or I think he would have called in too. From the photos and what I heard, the crime scene was epic-ly not a pretty sight."

Ryo winced. "Okay. Forget I asked. Just let me warn Dee and I'll meet you in the archive room. That's about the quietest place in the precinct."

"Thank you, Ryo-sempai."

A few minutes later, Ryo found JJ in the archives, already hunched over the book and a series of photos. Nodding a greeting to Hinata, the undisputed ruler of the archives, Ryo joined JJ at the table. Nearly an hour and a half later, Ryo's hand ached from scribbling notes and JJ was yawning and rubbing at reddened eyes. "You look like you could use some sleep." Ryo commented as he organized his notes.

JJ shrugged. He certainly wasn't about to tell Ryo why he was short of sleep. "Probably. What have we got?"

Ryo studied the notes he had hastily scribed as JJ read the meanings of the runes that had been incised into the girl's skin. "Which was the first one again?"

"Uhm, that one was _Ur_. The Auroch. Reversed."

JJ flipped pages in the book as Ryo read aloud. "Reversed, the auroch represents a major change, and not for the better. The degree of trouble is determined by the next runes in the set." He paused and looked for his notes on the next mark. "_Th_, the thorn… also reversed. Faced with a difficult situation, unable or unlikely to make good. Next up is _Ken_, the torch… reversed. _Ken_ signifies a loss, either personal or business-related."

JJ sighed. "Then there's the break in the pattern, a blank space before the next mark."

Ryo shook his head. "Something doesn't feel right. I think… I remember something from when I was back in high school. Let me see the book for a second."

JJ passed over the slim volume and Ryo rapidly flipped pages. "There used to be girl in my class. We all called her Spookie, because she was always wearing black and all this silver jewelry full of things like pentacles and dragons. She used to do the fortune-telling tent whenever we had a school event. She would read tarot cards or the 'bones' as she called them. I thought these looked familiar. It's the same set of symbols as was on her 'bones.' There was one… here it is! The blank tile… _Wyrd_, or fate. The essential meaning of _Wyrd _is that of immutable fate or karma."

JJ scowled at the pattern of runes. "I don't think this was a prediction, Ryo-sempai. Why use only the reversed runes, and why in such a strange pattern. It's the same on both of her arms, starting at the bend of her wrist down to the top of her breast."

Ryo frowned at the layout of photos. "Then there's _Mann_, the man reversed. The symbol means someone who does not have the querent's best interests at heart. The last rune in the pattern is _Peorth_, 'original meaning of the symbol unknown,' in reverse, meaning exposure of dark secrets or revelations of an unpleasant nature."

They studied the photos and notes in silence for a long moment. Ryo frowned thoughtfully. "What if the killer was trying to influence the results of the divination with the pattern of runes? Kind of like casting a curse, for lack of a better word?"

JJ blinked and considered the pattern in that light. "In a sick, twisted way, it makes a kind of sense. If he wanted bad things to happen to Bryant Richmond, what better way, in his demented mind, than to influence the results?"

Ryo was nodding agreement when JJ's cell phone chirped. JJ glanced down and read the number displayed. Drake! His stomach twisted with anxiety. God, he didn't want to hear Drake's uneasy and doubtless bitter words. He pressed the button to silence the phone. Ignoring Ryo's quizzical glance, he started gathering up the photos.

"Thanks for your help, Ryo-sempai. I-I really need to get going. I'm supposed to talk to forensics, y'know, about the lab results - and, ooh, what do you know, it's later than I thought. Gotta go, _byebye!"_

Ryo stared thoughtfully after JJ as he fled the room. Something must have happened to make JJ spaz out like that. He hadn't been quite that spastic since he'd given up on Dee. Ryo glanced down at his own phone and thought of calling Drake, but decided against it. He and Dee had done enough interfering in their friend's love lives.

* * *

_A/N- So, what did you think? (For the curious, yes, all of those were real runes and brief descriptions of their reversed meanings. The book JJ was using for reference is also real. It's called simply "The Runes" and it's by Horik Svensson. It was part of a Barnes and Noble gift set.) We don't own that anymore than we own Fake. The auguries are a real and rather gruesome way of foretelling the future. I don't know if anyone ever tried to influence them as our perp did, but I thought it might have been a reasonable assumption to make. And if you're far enough off your rocker to kill a teenager for an old grudge, you might try anything. Ciao for now --Subu-chan _


	3. Chapter 3: Smarter than the Average Dee

Chapter Three-Smarter Than the Average Dee-sempai

_A/N - got another chapter up at last, and sooner than we thought. Thanks for all the reviews, alerts and favorites this story has gotten. Glad to know you're enjoying this. Thanks to Destatikai for such thoughtful and wonderful reviews. They were a pleasure to read and we look forward to more of your thoughts as the story progresses. Chibigirlflower, as always, thanks for sticking with the story. JJ's flight becomes more understandable as the story goes on. (We'd leave you a review reply, but you're never logged on! -K.) He too has some issues to work through. And thanks for the encouragement, Jay. It's much appreciated.  
_

_All warnings and disclaimers still stand. This one's not for the kiddies folks._

* * *

An hour and a phone call later, JJ had learned precisely squat that he hadn't known about the case already. Both the Branson girl and the new one, Angela Merrick, had died of blood loss and shock. Likely, they had already been dead when their killer had sliced their abdomens open. At least JJ hoped so.

And Drake had tried calling twice more. JJ had deliberately let both calls go to voicemail.

Drake could play the self-hate card all he wanted, but JJ wasn't about to be there so he could take his share of the blame. He was already pissed at himself for taking advantage of Drake in his moment of weakness. He'd been cursing himself since he'd dragged himself out of bed after a mere two hours of sleep and come to work.

He glanced at his phone. Three voicemail messages. He really didn't want to listen, but with a sigh, he did so anyway. _ "JJ, it's Drake. Listen, thanks for calling me in, but I would have come to work if you hadn't turned my damn alarm clock off. Call me okay?"_ and _"JJ, are you ignoring your phone? I want to talk to you. You had better be posted on a roof somewhere or something, or I'm gonna get pissed!"_ and finally _"JJ, I'm getting annoyed here. Call me. We need to talk."_

"Sounds like he's really got a yen to talk to you."

JJ jumped a foot in the air, his breath escaping in a strangled squeak. He turned to gape at Dee who grinned and said, "Jumpy much?"

JJ swallowed and glared half-heartedly at Dee. "Who wouldn't jump when you sneak up behind them?"

"Sneak up?" Dee laughed. "I've been standing here since you started replaying your messages. You were just too far into your own little world to notice me." He leaned casually against the wall. "So what's up with you two? You looked like you'd rather be having a root canal than listen to those messages. What happened between you?"

JJ glared. "Dee-sempai, have you ever heard of minding your own business?"

"Nope." Dee answered cheerfully. "So what happened?"

JJ sighed. "I really shouldn't talk about it. Drake's already pissed at me."

"And…? C'mon, spill the beans!"

JJ sighed and pulled Dee all the way into the office, closing the door firmly behind him. "Drake was really upset by the crime scene yesterday. I found him hunched over in his bathroom, trying not to cry. I comforted him and… things got a little out of hand, okay?"

Dee looked at him speculatively. "By out of hand, I assume you mean…?"

JJ scowled. "Do I have to spell it out for you? I wound up in bed with him."

Dee studied him for a second. "Weeell, you don't have the freshly fucked look about you, so I'd wager to say it wasn't all that."

"_**Dee-sempai!!"**_ JJ stared aghast at the man he used to be in love with. Still cared very much about, but _not_ if he was going to say things like that! "Could you be any more crass?!"

Dee chuckled. "Oh, hell, yeah. I can be an ass of epic proportions, but this isn't about me. What went down?" He stopped himself with a surprised look. "Oh, _hell,_ that was a good pun, wasn't it? _'What went down?'_ You did!" He roared at his own joke.

JJ rammed an elbow into Dee's side. "Maybe I did, but you're going down the hard way if you don't shut the hell up!"

Coughing and rubbing his bruised side, Dee held up the other hand in surrender. "Okay! Sheesh! I was just messing with you. So you blew him. And?"

JJ couldn't help turning red. He'd forgotten just how vulgar Dee could be. "And nothing…! He needed comfort, not sex."

"So what's the issue?"

"Dee-sempai!" JJ's voice rose in exasperation. "In case you've forgotten, Drake is straight! He was half out of his mind and now that he's had time to think on it, he… he probably hates me now." JJ slumped into a chair. "God, I know he hates me now!"

Dee sighed and studied the lighter-haired man contemplatively for a moment. "You've really got it bad for him, don't you?"

JJ looked up as Dee continued. "Did you notice that not once in our conversation did you call him Drake-sempai? I think you've fallen hard for him."

JJ sighed. "What does it matter? I screwed up. And no more jokes, you asshole!"

Dee groaned and shoved a hand through his hair. "All joking aside, JJ, at least he wants to talk to you. He wouldn't want to talk if he hated you."

JJ laughed bitterly. "He wants to blame me for what happened and yell at me."

Dee snatched JJ's phone and replayed Drake's voicemail messages. It hadn't been all that hard to figure out JJ's password. All he had to do was enter his own birthday and voila!

"Listen to that, JJ! That is not the voice of someone who wants to yell at you! He said he wants to talk. So talk to him! Quit acting like a little kid who's afraid of his own shadow."

JJ tried to get angry, but knew he sounded more pathetic than anything. "Are you calling me a coward?"

"Hey, if the shoe fits."

He wilted under the heat of Dee's scorn. Just then his phone chirped in Dee's hand. "Well, speak of the Devil…" Dee said, holding the phone out toward him. "Here, answer it. I don't think it's me he wants to chat with."

JJ took the phone in a limp hand, looking like it might bite him.

"Oi, answer it already!" Dee scolded.

"Adams."

"JJ. _God,_ it took you long enough! Look, before you say anything, we have to talk."

"I know." JJ answered in a small voice.

"Look, come over here when you get off tonight. Promise me." Drake's voice sounded strange. Was he angry, pissed? JJ couldn't tell. "Promise me, JJ."

"I-I promise." JJ winced at the way his voice broke.

"I mean it, JJ. You had better show up or I'm coming over to your place. I'm sure your aunt will let me in."

JJ didn't doubt it. His aunt Cecile had liked Drake very much. She thought he was a cut above, and had made that very clear when JJ had taken a couple of days off to nurse her through a nasty bout with the flu. _"So much nicer than that young man you were always following around in the academy." _ She'd said.

"I'll be there." JJ's voice trembled and without another word, he snapped the phone shut.

"Rude much?" Dee asked with a smirk. "That's not like you. You didn't even bother to say goodbye."

JJ tried for a glare, but knew it was half-hearted at best. "What should I say? I'm sorry I sucked your dick, please don't hate me?!" His laugh teetered on the edge of hysterics. He knew he was on the edge, but couldn't bring himself to care. If Drake rejected him… he - he'd have nothing left.

Dee saw the impending hysterics and slapped JJ lightly across the cheek. "Hey, hey! Rein it in!" He scolded when JJ blinked startled eyes at him. "If you go in there thinking it's all over, it might as well be. Give him a chance. Give yourself one while you're at it."

He watched as JJ deliberately took a deep breath and held it. When he let it out, he was noticeably calmer. He looked up and quirked a sad-looking smile. "When did you get to be this smart, Dee-sempai?"

Dee scowled at him. "Hey. I'll have you know I was always smart!"

"A smartass, maybe." A familiar voice put in from the doorway. Startled, both Dee and JJ turned to stare at Ryo. "Other than that…" Ryo let the sentence trail off and grinned at his lover. When Dee sighed and raised his hands in surrender, Ryo turned his attention to the other man. "JJ, Jim's here and wants to talk with you."

Dee sighed again and shoved a hand through his black hair. "Fuck. I hope for all our sakes it's good news. Richmond is raising holy hell about being in protective custody."

JJ scowled at the foolishness of the DA. "Take him down to the morgue to see Merrick's body, Dee-sempai. That should shut him up."

Dee looked positively evil. "Y'know, I just might. God knows, he's not going to shut up otherwise."

JJ managed a weak chuckle and left the room in search of Jim. As expected, he was holding court in the lounge, chatting up a couple of the girls in the secretarial pool. JJ shook his head as he entered the room. "Don't let him fool you, ladies. He's married to his work."

Jim gave him an offended glare as the girls giggled and fled. "Now, what did you go and do that for? I had them eating out of the palm of my hand."

JJ made a face. "Ew, god, don't do that. You might poison them."

"Funny man."

JJ sighed and dropped into a chair opposite the tall blonde. "What have you got for us?"

Jim brought out a small plastic bag. "Don't know how much it will help, but this was clenched in Miss Merrick's hand. She was holding it when she died."

JJ took the bag and peered through the clear plastic. Still smeared with the victim's blood, the object was small and oddly shaped. Fresh from his study of the book, JJ recognized the symbol etched into it as a rune. But it was the shape of the runestone that arrested his attention. He felt that he should know that shape. Suddenly, it clicked and he looked up at Jim in horror. "Tell me that's not what I think it is…"

Jim shook his head with a weary sigh. "It is. It's a human finger bone - a woman's, or that of a young adult - judging from the size. Without dating the bone, I'd venture a guess it came from our sicko's first victim, which makes it over a year old. The first victim that recognizably fits the pattern was just over a year ago, so I would put it as a little older than that."

JJ memorized the hand-carved rune before passing the evidence bag back to Jim. "Have you gotten anything from this yet?"

Jim shook his head. "I'm still waiting for the lab results. Hopefully, our murderer had enough contact with the bone for the lab boys to pick it up. It's so contaminated by the victim's blood, though…"

JJ sighed. They were still at square one. "Thanks, Jim-sempai. Let me know what you find as soon as you know anything."

"Sure. No offense, but you look like you could use about ten hours uninterrupted sleep." Jim shoved his glasses back up his nose and glanced sideways into JJ's face.

"Something like that," JJ agreed noncommittally.

After parting with Jim, JJ went back to his office and looked up the rune carved on the finger bone, deliberately looking anywhere but at the clock on the wall. His shift ended in less than an hour, and the promise to go talk to Drake had his stomach tying itself into tighter and tighter knots.

He found the rune and carefully read the accompanying text. " _'Hagall_, hail. Denotes limitation and signifies someone or thing beyond control getting in the way of the realization of one's desires. Shows the road ahead will be troubled and far from the easiest and straightest path to one's goals.' "

He didn't think it was significant, but jotted it down with the notes on the runes carved into the victim's flesh. When he was finished, a glance at the clock showed that it was five minutes till shift change. Somehow, this was the first time he had ever wished for the workday to last a little longer.

As he seriously considered breaking his promise to Drake and running like hell, Dee stuck his head in with a smugly serious grin. "Time to go."

JJ blinked up at him in bemused consternation. Dee grabbed his coat off the chair by the door and dropped it in JJ's lap. "Wha…?" He managed at last.

Dee gifted him with a supremely disdainful glance. "Did you think I wouldn't notice you looking like the man facing the firing squad? I figured you'd bolt as soon as the chance came up, so I'm not going to give you the chance. Now, get your shit and get it in gear."

"Where are we going?" JJ asked, without moving, even though he already knew.

"You already know the answer to that question, dumbass." Dee grabbed his collar and hauled him bodily to his feet. "You two are so fucked up that it's bordering on the ridiculous. I'm sure as hell not going to take the fallout if you don't do something."

"Dee-sempai…" JJ dug in his heels.

Dee sighed and turned to face him, releasing his punishing grip on JJ's collar. "Whether you think so or not, I'm trying to help you, moron. At the very least, talk to him. Do you want to let what might be your best chance slip through your fingers?" He softened his tone as he saw the determined look wavering. "You said it yourself, Drake's your best friend. He's already admitted that you need to talk."

JJ faltered. "B-but…?"

Dee shook his head. "Do I have to do everything for you? Let's go."

This time JJ didn't protest as he was towed along.

He pulled free when they reached the parking garage. "It's okay. I can drive myself, Dee-sempai."

Dee grinned at him, the trademark cocky smile that had once melted JJ into a puddle of excitement. Now, it just made him nervous. "No can do, JJ. For one, I don't trust you not to bolt straight for home the minute you get behind the wheel and for another, without your car, you'll have to talk long enough to ask directions to the nearest subway station. It's not much of one, but it's a start."

JJ managed an indignant squeak as he was shoved into the passenger's side of Dee's car. Dee ignored him and climbed into the driver's seat. "Dee-sempai…"

Lighting a cigarette, Dee scowled at him as the flame from the lighter cast odd shadows on his face. "That's enough outta you. I'm doing this and there's nothing you can say about it."

JJ folded his arms. "What about Ryo? He's not going to be happy if you keep interfering."

Dee grimaced. "Hell, you two have already earned me one night on the couch, what's a few more?"

JJ managed not to blink. Dee and Ryo had argued over them? "R-really?"

Dee exhaled a cloud of smoke in a sigh. "Yeah. Y'know, Ryo was the one that noticed the thing between the two of you first. I mean, there were times when it kinda up and slapped me in the face, but I never really noticed a damned thing until, y'know, the time Ryo got shot and I came over to your place to talk. He spotted it way before then. Said I was a blind idiot for not noticing myself. Like I could with you pouncing me every time I blinked!" Dee made an aggravated sound and snorted smoke. "He said it was in the way you ran to Drake when I rejected you and in the way Drake dropped everything to take care of you."

JJ mulled that over as Dee pulled out of the parking garage. Had Drake really dropped everything for him? He squeaked when Dee shot him an amused glance and he realized he'd said as much aloud. "Yeah." Dee said. "He even dropped Linda, y'know, the one he dated long enough that there were rumors he was gonna marry her. You called him and he came a-running. Dropped her like a hot potato, and not long after that she dumped him."

JJ remembered that. It was one of the few times he had returned the service to Drake. He'd gone over to Drake's cluttered apartment to pick up a file he'd taken with him and found Drake disconsolately ranting at a picture of Linda, a half-full bottle of rum in his hand and another empty one on the floor. Drake had alternately cussed her and wept drunkenly until JJ had managed to calm him and drag his seriously drunk ass to bed.

"I didn't know that." He said quietly.

Dee chuckled as he flicked the butt of his cigarette out the window. "Yeah, well, I guess he didn't want you to know."

JJ considered that in silence, thinking back on all that Drake had done for him, never asking for anything in return. How Drake had put his welfare before his own on more than one occasion, and not just on the job. He had so much to think over, in fact, that he didn't notice they'd arrived at their destination until Dee turned the car off.

"Do I have to escort you up there, or can I trust you to do it yourself?"

JJ managed a much more genuine smile. "I'll go. And thanks, Dee-sempai. You gave me a lot to think about." He climbed out of the car and headed into Drake's apartment building.

Dee allowed a smile to creep over his face as JJ disappeared into the building. "Sure, kid." He said to no one and nothing in particular. "You're welcome." Then he started the car and headed back to the place he now shared with the love of his life. Time to face the music. Maybe if he acted contrite enough, Ryo would let him off. Not likely, but it was a hope.


End file.
